Red inner tube

[RalphM]

I’ve pulled apart a lot of early Ford wheels and never came across a red inner tube. Just curious where these came from?
I don’t see any name on it.

OK here we go again, can’t load pictures

 

[paul2748]

Haen't seen one in a long time, but I have seen them

 

[JSeery]

Seen them in a lot of bicycle tires.

 

[Ole Lou]

Red rubber inner tubes used to make the best sling shots

 

[JSeery]

Red rubber inner tubes used to make the best sling shots

Yep, I was thinking that as well!!

 

[cmbrucew]

I believe they were aftermarket. People said they were the best, they were heaver.
Last one I saw was a truck tire tube. Seems like I remember a yellow rubber tube.


Bruce

 

[GB SISSON]

I pulled one in the early 90s. It was extremely supple. I'm sure I could have re-used it if I had needed to.

 

[tubman]

When I was a kid, the word was that the red tubes were "natural rubber", while the black ones were synthetic. I have no idea if this was really the case, but it might explain the slingshot angle.

 

[RalphM]

I better save this one then, as I’ve been saving ball bearings for years for slingshot ammo.

 

[ford38v8]

I better save this one then, as I’ve been saving ball bearings for years for slingshot ammo.

If you're like I was as a kid, I would shoot accurately at targets, and give it a little extra when shooting at a bird. Invariably, that extra hard pull would break my rubber, which of course was a genuine pain to the shooter. Years later, I made slingshots for my boys using surgical tubing. They somehow weren't interested, but pity those birds of my youth if I had had surgical tubing!

 

[dumb person]

I have one. They had antimony added to the rubber to make them tougher, so the legend has it. Best inner tubes i've ever seen. Long lasting. Very tough. When they used red rubber as tire treads they outlasted everything else, apparently.
Long ago lost to the mists of time... take good care of any you find.

 

[Dak Rat]

In the 50's at our lake cabin, the red inner tubes were the most popular for swimming--they wouldn't get hot in the sun and lasted for years with no rot.

 

[JSeery]

Did a quick search, it looks like Black Tubes (Butyl) are synthetic and Red Tubes are natural rubber.

 

[rotorwrench]

Natural rubber, not vulcanized, is white. When vulcanized it sort of turns gray. Adding carbon black makes them black. My thoughts would be that they were made in a time where carbon black was hard to get. Generally during war time. WWII & Korea were both such times. The rubber was cured & vulcanized with some form of red colored material added. I figure it was red lead since it was a curing agent used for some formulas of rubber.

 

[Flathead]

How about red radiator hoses? Similar rubber?

 

[rotorwrench]

The red heater hoses are likely a similar material. I can remember red rubber hot water bottles and squeeze bulbs on the battery & radiator hydrometers and other gizmos. A lot of that stuff was natural rubber. Most tubes are made from butyl rubber these days but they weren't always. I still remember red rubber flaps inside the tires to protect the tubes

 

[woodiewagon46]

I saw one in a Model A once, but not in a V-8.

 

[RalphM]

Don’t know what’s going on with the pictures,
This is out of a 6.00x16. 1948 Ford

 

[RalphM]

Don’t know what’s going on with the pictures,
This is out of a 6.00x16. 1948 Ford

Darn it, wrong picture. And it’s the picture I took right before the inner tube!
This is too strange. It will not load the inner tube.

OK it’s getting even weirder, this is a screenshot I took of the picture that wouldn’t load.

 

[ford38v8]

Darn it, wrong picture. And it’s the picture I took right before the inner tube!
This is too strange. It will not load the inner tube.

OK it’s getting even weirder, this is a screenshot I took of the picture that wouldn’t load.

Ralph, If a picture won't load, it's either too big, or of an unsupported type. Check the notes on what's compatible.